Vote! (and vote well)

Ah spring...when a young government's fancy turns to election. That's right, its springtime in Canada, otherwise known as election season. This year, I anticipate the election with some trepidation. I feel nervous every time there is an election in Canada, because I care about who leads our country, and what they stand for. Too many Canadians don't seem to feel the same; or, at the very least, they don't feel that how they vote is relevant. Too many Canadians of voting age don't vote. In the last federal election, voter turnout hit a record low, at 59.1%. In the first free and fair election in South Africa, people lined up for hours and sung and danced in the heat, joyfully, in order to exercise their right to vote. Voting is a privilege and a right.

In Canada, many of those who vote frequently feel that their only choice is to vote strategically, against someone, rather than proactively for someone. I read today in the Globe and Mail that many, many more Canadians would vote NDP if they believed that the NDP could actually form a government. How absurd this herd mentality seems. What about voting with your conscience, driven by your beliefs, and choosing someone who represents you? I admit, its hard to get excited about politics when you're most concerned about voting against, rather than for.

A significantly greater concern than the trend to vote against is the huge amount of people who don't vote at all. Have we forgotten what a privilege it is to be able to choose our leaders? Yes, it is our right, but it is a right that is denied to people around the world. My Great Aunt Marg once said to me that the greatest thing she saw in her lifetime (which spanned 93 years) was when women got the vote. This is a BIG DEAL. The right to vote and choose our leaders is a BIG DEAL. And yet, most Canadians generally seem perturbed by being asked to go to the polls again.

Maybe it makes me nerd, but I love voting, I love having the opportunity to choose my representative. Do I think we have a perfect system? Hell no (I favour a proportional representation system, but I am apparently alone waving that banner). But, regardless, I am grateful that I have this right.

Tonight, I watched the leadership debate in the Atrium of the CBC building, and I heard the Prime Minister refer to the democratic process multiple times as 'bickering'. He consistently ignored the other candidates with whom he was apparently debating and stared directly into the camera with small, creepy condescending smiles and did his best to convince Canadians that he deserved a majority government. What he didn't really do was participate fully in the democratic process, in that it didn't really feel like he was debating with anyone at all, and he seemed to indicate that anyone who took issue with his statements were squabbling unnecessarily. While I clearly have my own politics that lean away from Stephen Harper, what I really couldn't stand to see tonight was his disrespect for democracy (not to mention, of course, his policies on military spending, crime, immigration, social welfare, health care, international diplomacy, or any of his economic policies really at all--but I digress).

Canada is a fantastic country. I love it here. I have voted every opportunity I've had, and I am so grateful I have that ability. On May 2nd, 2011, please vote. Make an informed choice, and participate in the democratic process.

And remember, a vote for Stephen Harper's Conservatives is a vote against hugs and puppies.